2012 NFL Draft Grades: Highlighting Biggest Winners and Losers from All 7 Rounds

The 2012 NFL draft wrapped up on Saturday, giving plenty of time to digest all of the picks and choose some winners and losers from all seven rounds.

Here’s a list of who did the best and worst in each round and an explanation of why.

Round 1

Winner: New England Patriots. No. 21 Chandler Jones, No. 25 Dont'a Hightower

The Patriots actually traded up to address a need, and that honestly surprised fans of the team. They usually hoard selections, which they use to trade down or for picks in future drafts.

They got one of the best pass-rushers in the class and one of the top interior linebackers for their troubles.

Loser: Seattle Seahawks. No. 15 Bruce Irvin

Irvin is going to be a decent pass-rusher, but he doesn’t seem capable of doing anything else. It was a luxury pick in the middle of the first-round for a team that has a lot more needs than just a one-dimensional player.

Round 2

Winner: Baltimore Ravens. No. 35 Courtney Upshaw, No. 60 Kelechi Osemele

Upshaw was a first-round prospect that slipped into the second. Baltimore will gladly assimilate this talented winner into their defensive unit. Osemele is a solid tackle that will eventually start when Bryant McKinnie retires.

Loser: San Francisco 49ers. No. 61 LaMichael James

The 49ers did not need a backup RB. Frank Gore is the starter and can carry a heavy load, while Kendall Hunter is the upcoming and promising backup. Unless they plan to use him as a returner due to Kyle Williams’ shortcomings, this pick makes no sense. 

Round 3

Winner: Indianapolis Colts. No. 64 Dwayne Allen, No. 92 T.Y. Hilton

Allen is another big target for new QB Andrew Luck to throw to and will also help protect him from taking too many hits his rookie year. However, Hilton is the reason why Indy won the round as they got an elite special teamer and deep threat with a late pick.

Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars. No. 70 Bryan Anger

Anger is a punter. Taken in the third round. By a team that went 5-11 last season. Enough said.

Round 4

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers. No. 109 Alameda Ta’amu

This may have been the most perfect pick of the draft. Ta’amu has insane value this late and seems born to take over for an aging Casey Hampton in Pittsburgh as the nose tackle.

Loser: Cleveland Browns. No. 100 Travis Benjamin

Cleveland has enough undersized, speedy WRs. They had more needs to address and decided to get a clone of the type of receiver they are flush with instead.

Round 5

Winner: Cincinnati Bengals. No. 156 Shaun Prater, No. 166 Marvin Jones, No. 167 George Iloka

Cincy cleaned up in the fifth round. They got a nice, athletic corner in Prater that will excel in zone and then continued to address their spotty secondary by picking Iloka. He can play either safety position and has shown a knack for making plays on the ball. Jones is a nice WR that will help move the chains and become a reliable target for Andy Dalton.

Loser: Kansas City Chiefs. No. 146 DeQuan Menzie

KC has a hole at safety across from Eric Berry, but Menzie is going to be too small to play the position at the NFL level. He doesn’t have the coverage skills to play cornerback and only excels in run support. Don’t expect much from this kid in the pros.

Round 6

Winner: Cleveland Browns. No. 204 Emmanuel Acho, No. 205 Billy Winn

The Browns made some nice back-to-back picks here in the sixth and addressed some major needs on defense. Acho is going to likely start at one OLB position while Winn was a second-day DE prospect that fell into the third.

Loser: Oakland Raiders. No. 189 Christo Bilukidi

When a team doesn’t have too many picks due to numerous trades and even a supplemental draft selection from last year, they need hit big on the ones they still possess. Oakland failed miserably here by getting a player projected to go undrafted. They could have used it on a more valuable athlete and signed Bilukidi after the draft.

Round 7

Winner: New England Patriots. No. 224 Alfonzo Dennard, No. 235 Jeremy Ebert

Some experts had Dennard in the first round before character issues started to surface. Regardless, he’s an excellent, physical corner that would be a huge upgrade to the Pats’ secondary. Ebert is a solid WR that runs good routes and could eventually play a Wes Welker-type role in the offense.

Loser: Atlanta Falcons. No. 249 Travian Robertson

Likely will not make the roster because of his limited athleticism and skills at DT.